


Smooth As Butter

by softiebee



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: (four colleges), Fluff, Gangsey, Other, Summer Fic, adam gets into college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 07:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8657995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softiebee/pseuds/softiebee
Summary: this is a work of fiction. all characters belong to maggie stiefvater and the raven cycle series.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [E](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=E), [inkfish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkfish/gifts), [tanzanite927](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanzanite927/gifts).



> this is a work of fiction. all characters belong to maggie stiefvater and the raven cycle series.

“Open mine last, Adam.”

“Open mine _first_ , man. First is where the glory lies.”

“Why does it matter? They’ll all be open at some point, just let him-”

“ _Stop eating the damn wrapping paper_.”

“Whose idea was this?”

“Yours.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“Sit down!”

Adam was in a happy haze. Had summers ever been like this? Not that he remembered; every summer was always tinged with slamming doors, with breaking bottles, with bruises and blotches and scars. Not this one. This one was weightless.

They were crowded into a small booth at Nino’s, and messily wrapped presents were strewn haphazardly across the table next to a stack of ripped envelopes. All the windows were open, as well as the door, and Nino’s was crowded as it always was, but not with Aglionby boys. Summers were free of their sticky wealth; they packed it into vintage suitcases and shiny cars and private jets and took it with them to foreign countries. Adam was always relieved. Instead, the tables were full of small families and old couples, and the soft chatter tucked itself behind Adam’s ears like the whispers of Cabeswater. 

“Just open one! This is pointless,” Blue grumbled, tucking a piece of hair up into her work twists. Ronan arched his back, pushing Opal’s belly into the table. She kicked him hard in the shin, and everyone winced except Ronan, who pinched her arm. 

“You two are such children,” Henry remarked, and pulled his own legs up to his chest, out of the danger zone. “But please, Adam, if you don’t open something soon, I fear for our lives.”

Adam surveyed the pile before him. Gansey had gone all out, as Adam suspected he would - “There’s only one from me,” he had said while loading box after box into the tiny trunk of the Pig, “but Helen wanted to give you one, as did each of my parents, and then one from the headmaster,” - and so had the residents at 300 Fox Way, and, unforgivably, Henry. Ronan probably had as well, but not in quantity; his two parcels were wrapped in brown paper and had odd corners sticking out at every angle. One had a mysterious crater shaped like Opal’s elbow. He deliberated for just a second before lifting one of Henry’s, which was swiftly punctuated by a short whoop of victory.

“Yes! First is where it’s at, my friends. I don’t know what Jane’s - _ow_ \- fascination is with having hers opened last, but truly, sooner is sooner, and later is later.”

“Shut _up_.” Blue elbowed his side. “Open it, Adam. I’m growing gray hairs.”

“Really?” Ronan reached over the table and yanked at one of her twists. She swatted his hand, and Henry was laughing again. Adam shook his head and tore off the corner of the wrapping paper.

“Holy shit, Cheng.”

“Yes,” Henry said smugly, settling back into his corner. Opal leaned into Adam’s shoulder, peering curiously at the object in his hands.

“What is it?”

“Good question.” Adam turned it over; it was oval-shaped and steel and very heavy, and on the bottom, there were a number of buttons and switches that Adam had no idea what to do with.

“It’s a mechanical bee.” Henry took a large bite of pizza and talked through it. “I know practical gifts are more your style, Adam-O, but I thought for the sake of sentimentality, an impractical gift would benefit as much.” He withdrew RoboBee from his shirt pocket and balanced it on the tip of his finger, winking at Adam as it took off and few in circles around his head. Adam watched it, bewildered, looking back and forth from it to the lump of metal in his hand.

“ _This_ is what your father makes for a living?”

“Yes.” Henry leaned back, and RoboBee landed on his nose. “Wanted to give one to you to remind you of me and this whimsy. And our Dick, of course,” he added, blowing an affectionate kiss towards Gansey, who caught it absentmindedly and then turned very red. Blue tugged them both to her sides, and Adam wasn’t sure of it, but he suspected that if he were to duck under the table, they would all be holding hands. _Typical_ , he thought, and it made him smile. 

“Adam, I don’t mean to press, but I’m running out of break time and you’ve only gone through a single present.” Blue tapped her wrist, raising her eyebrows at him. “Tick tock.”

“Just take the rest of your shift off,” Gansey said, not for the first time. At this point he was almost pleading. Blue clucked her tongue. 

“Get to it.”

“Of course,” Adam replied. “Wouldn’t want to keep a lady waiting.”

Ronan snorted.

-

An hour later, Adam was surrounded by shredded wrapping paper and an appalling amount of gifts. The rest of Henry’s had been framed pictures and a pair of shoes; Blue’s had been various teas, Persephone’s second set of tarot cards, and an Amazon gift card; Gansey’s had been a leather wallet and a new messenger bag, which was reasonable enough, but they grew steadily more outrageous as the hierarchy progressed: several of his required law textbooks from Helen, a sleek laptop from Mr. Gansey, and ownership papers for a car and the promise of various invitations from Mrs. Gansey, all of which Adam pushed to the side for Gansey to take home, shaking his head. Ronan’s had been a ball of owl pellets (Opal) and a telescope, which seemed vaguely useless because it wouldn’t open and the cap wouldn’t come off, but Adam was unfazed. All that was left on the table was the stack of envelopes.

“What are those?” Blue asked suspiciously. Adam bit his tongue.

“They’re all fucking college letters,” Ronan replied, stretching his arms above his head. “He hasn’t read them yet. But I have,” he added, smugly. Blue shook her head.

“Christ,” she said, turning to Adam. “Open them.”

Adam slouched down in his seat until he could prop his ankles up on her knees under the table. She kicked them aside. 

“I’m serious! It’s not doing you any good to keep yourself waiting. You’ve been working up to this for _four years_.”

“Try eighteen,” Adam mumbled, but pushed himself up again and drew the envelopes possessively to his chest. He _had_ really been working up to this for years, he thought, and he should be more sure of it. It was strange to hold his future so directly in his hands.

With a grunt, Ronan pulled a thin letter opener from his back pocket and tossed it onto the table. It seemed vaguely unnecessary seeing as the envelopes were already open, but Adam paused for only a second before picking it up and slicing through the first flap.

“This is Berkeley, by the way,” Ronan said, lifting his chin to the rest of the table. Adam could hear the knowing in his voice, and it steadied his hands and quickened his fingers. 

_Dear Mr. Parrish, We are delighted to inform you-_

“Yes!” Blue was lit up, punching his arm from across the table. “Another.”

“Stanford,” Ronan clarified.

_Dear Mr. Parrish, Congratulations-_

“Get it!” This was from Henry. On Blue’s other side, Gansey was hooting, all regard for the rest of Nino’s lost somewhere between his fifth and sixth iced teas. 

“Brown.”

_Dear Mr. Parrish, We hope you accept-_

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit-”

“Princeton.”

Adam’s heart stilled.

“Princeton, Adam.”

His hands shook.

_Dear Mr. Parrish, It is with great honor that I welcome you to-_

Henry launched himself out of his sitting position and onto his feet on the bench. Blue’s fists pounded the table, and it was difficult to tell if Gansey or Opal was shouting louder - Adam was distantly aware of the noise, distantly aware of Henry’s horrific spontaneous dancing, distantly aware of Ronan shaking his shoulders, mouth close to his ear, but his eyes were flicking rapidly over the text, then over it again, and over it again, until finally he tipped his head back and let it fall against the seat. A great sigh ran through him. Assuredness. The definity of escape. Or - he opened one eye and looked at Ronan, who looked back as if he had never been looking anywhere else. Not escape. 

Opportunity.

Future.

It was a _night._

**Author's Note:**

> it has been _so long _. nano was a bust - i got so stressed a third of the way in that i had to give myself a break, and after that it fell apart - but i have a fantastic beginning that i can edit and edit and edit until i have a working... something. this isn't an excerpt from that, but it is something i wrote during the month, as a feel-good, self-serving, break-giving sort of deal. this work is dedicated to those who faithfully read through my half-completed 30 day challenge. you're why i kept writing, and it _will_ be finished. i promise. __
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _comments and kudos are always appreciated! you can find me on tumblr at[c-beswater](https://c-beswater.tumblr.com/)._  
>  _


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